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Intranet technology and corporate communication
Introduction
A great deal has been said and written about intranets over the last couple of years. The hype may in this case be justified. The corporate intranet offers the prospect of a profound change in corporate communications practice. But the dangers are great: |
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intranets can be difficult to control; if they are not introduced and managed carefully, with a clear understanding of their strategic purpose, large amounts of resource can be uselessly absorbed; |
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intranets tend to be developed initially by IT departments or enthusiasts who may not have a primary focus on corporate communications issues; |
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intranets attract enthusiastic devotees, whose subsequent development and/or use of the intranet may not be informed by a clear strategic purpose; |
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people tend to be possessive about 'their' information; without free exchange of valuable information, the intranet will become worthless; |
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a poor start can be difficult to recover from. |
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In order to avoid these dangers, and pursue the greatest benefit from the potential of intranets, there are two key requirements: |
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the corporate intranet must be seen first and foremost as a strategic communications channel, and developed with a clear understanding of how strategic communications should be used to pursue the company's specific business strategy; |
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the intranet must be managed by a corporate communications and/or knowledge management function, rather than by the platform provider. |
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The Eastbury Partnership can: |
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help define the role of the intranet within the overall communications strategy, and advise on whether it is an appropriate tool to meet the company's needs; |
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advise companies on what is involved in developing an intranet, the options, the pitfalls etc; |
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prepare the business case for an intranet, steering it through the approvals process, and support internal advocacy of the project; |
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undertake top-level project management, especially in the setup phase; |
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design and prepare sample intranet pages, or a suite of pages specifically addressed to the needs of corporate publishing; |
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advise on the most appropriate managerial and operational arrangements for the client, and help put these in place; |
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define success criteria and feedback arrangements. |
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The Corporate Intranet: Issues and Strategy
Internet technologies offer the prospect of potentially revolutionary changes in corporate communications practice. These words are carefully chosen: |
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Internet technologies: We are referring not to the World Wide Web per se but to the underlying technologies (Internet protocols, open systems, 'browser' software etc) and their suitability as a software/hardware infrastructure for a much wider range of internal corporate communications. Already, web-style front ends are being implemented to front-end all manner of internal data networks. Mainstream applications software is increasingly being converted to hypertext/web-style user interfaces. Internet technologies can unify the whole of a company's network communications and information management. |
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Potential: These developments are at a comparatively early stage. A recent report by the Future Foundation forecasts that the global market for intranet technologies will dwarf the Internet by the year 2000. However, it also reveals that UK businesses are still largely ignorant about the advantages of building intranets, and that the potential of intranets in the UK has been overshadowed by the Internet. Nevertheless, BT is already operating one of the largest intranets in Europe and, according to third-party reports, estimates it saved £305M in 1996; it has already exceed the £560M cost savings target set for the current year. |
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Taking best advantage of the potential requires an appreciation of how the technology is developing; a clear strategy for its exploitation; and a sound understanding of how such a strategy fits with the core purpose and values of the business. There is still the opportunity for companies which get this right in the near future to establish a world lead in communications for the new millennium: and to create major competitive advantage. The developing technology
An intranet uses the increasingly familiar Internet technology of web pages, browser software, routers, PCs etc to develop a corporate network of information accessible (primarily) to employees. Since an intranet uses the Internet's open systems protocols, it allow relatively easy connection and access from a range of hardware platforms. "By presenting information in the same way to every computer, intranets can do what computer and software makers have frequently promised but never actually delivered: pull all the computers, software and database systems that dot the corporate landscape into a single system that enables employees to find information wherever it resides." [Business Week. Feb. 1996] In principle, an intranet allows a company to dispense with much of its paper documentation (reports, manuals handbooks etc) and replace them with on-line versions. More significant in the longer term, however, is the way that an intranet spreads access to corporate information, encouraging changes in working practice and corporate structure which many large organisations are now pursuing: delayering, multi-functionalism, team-working, empowerment etc. Intranets can improve information flow and corporate communication, reduce administration costs and facilitate remote access and remote working opportunities. They offer the prospect of corporate information management systems which are easy-to-use, cost effective and flexible. Even if they simply provide access to previously-existing corporate databases, familiar and intuitive web-style front ends drive changes in behaviour in the most effective way: by employee-pull rather than top-management-push. In the broadest sense, intranet development reflects the realisation that 'knowledge management' is increasingly critical to business success. Increasing quantities of corporate data require much more effective information management approaches. Furthermore, in an increasingly information-based society, focused on service industries like international transport rather traditional manufacturing, competitive advantage flows from added-value information exploitation. In this context, corporate intranet development may have the potential to be the most significant economic component of the 'information society'. "...taking the arguments of Peter Drucker, Tom Peters and Charles Handy and the like to their logical conclusion, intranets may turn out to be the single most important aspect of business success there is. Corporate Britain take note." ['Inside Information', The Future Foundation for BT, 1997] These developments are already being pursued energetically. The relative simplicity of the technology enables intranets to be developed and populated rapidly, and their owners to begin extracting the competitive benefit. In other words, while an intranet may look simply like an easy way for employees to access corporate databases, its longer term implications are much more significant. This places great stress on the need for clear strategic direction from senior management. How intranets develop
The power and potential of corporate intranets has become widely appreciated only within the last year or two. Increasing familiarity with the Internet, and especially the World Wide Web, has led corporations to realise that there can be immediate-and significant-benefits to their operations from adopting the same technology inside the organisation. Most intranets seem to develop in the same way. Initially, one or two enthusiasts or a small group (often, but not exclusively within the IT department) set up the basic infrastructure, provide a server on the network, begin 'playing' with the technology and load up some home pages. Where the company provides browser software, for example as a component of a standard desktop, employees now have access to the primitive intranet and begin exploring. Other enthusiasts begin to prepare and publish their own intranet material. Before long, the intranet is spreading rapidly around the organisation, both in terms of content provision and usage. Along the way, the corporate centre begins to take an interest in these developments. Coordinating machinery is established. A Corporate Webmaster may be appointed (and/or the function assigned to a group of internal web publishers). Corporate standards begin to be established. Where senior management enthusiasm and support is kindled, substantial impetus may be placed behind systematic development. The organisation begins to realise it must grapple with issues of management and control for which it may not be prepared. It is important to appreciate why intranets develop as they do. In the first place, any moderately-sized organisation with specialist IT staff inevitably contains people who are drawn to intranet technology. Intranets are fashionable, exciting, and appeal to 'techies'. In addition, the underlying technology (especially web and browser software) is simple, and it is easy to acquire basic web publishing capability relatively quickly. Other departments outside the IT function will have their share of enthusiasts and early adopters too. An intranet gets built from the bottom up. Authority and anarchy
There is a more profound reason why intranets develop as they do, and understanding this is key to effective strategic management. It is a truism that nobody 'owns' the Internet or the World Wide Web. Its great power and potential flows from the fact that literally anyone can join; anyone can publish material to a global audience of tens (hundreds?) of millions. Standards and protocols are open; software is effectively free. The Web develops with the loosest possible consensus among millions of users. It is uncontrollable by centralised authority, and in this lies its power to democratise information and communication. Importing this technology inside the corporation generates similar features. Corporations can attempt to control intranet development in traditional command-and-control style. But this will only work to a limited extent without repressive management action. And it risks damaging the key features which give intranets their power: the creativity of individual employees, their ability to control their own communication activities, and the development of a business tool which is responsive to the actual needs of those who are responsible for the organisation's performance. An intranet needs to achieve a critical mass before it begins to deliver benefits. This can only be achieved from the bottom up. This situation poses unusual challenges. Just as nobody 'owns' the Internet, nobody should 'own' the corporate intranet. Certain managers will have key responsibilities: someone must manage network infrastructure; one or more managers must take on the role of promoting and steering intranet development. But the intranet will not work, any more than the internal telephone system will work, if attempts are made to police who can say what to whom, when and in what form. Information and corporate culture
Securing the greatest benefit from the intranet requires a clear understanding of its implications for the twin issues of corporate culture and information ownership. In most corporations, there is an inevitable tension between central direction and distributed responsibility. In standard business strategy terms, the corporate centre has characteristics of strategic control and functional direction, of financial control and portfolio management. A clear vision for the future should be articulated by the Chief Executive and his senior management team, and alignment with corporate goals should be required of all operations. At the same time, larger functional and front-line operations typically exercise substantial individual autonomy and are free to determine their own strategy and policies. The intranet will bring greatest benefits only if these tensions between 'anarchy' and 'control' are resolved. But this cannot be achieved by fiat. The company needs to evolve its own solutions, to both the general question and its specific implications, as it prepares for the new millennium. The major contribution the intranet can make is not that it is a problem to be resolved within a corporate strategy framework; but that the way that it develops can help solve the issue of how the corporation should develop. The way this turns out depends crucially on attitudes to information. That information is power is a further truism. People and departments have both intellectual and personal capital invested in 'their' information which they are understandably reluctant to compromise. More substantially, there are genuine concerns among the 'owners' of information that its use by the ignorant or uninitiated, unaware of context or interpretation, could be misleading and possibly damaging to the company. We believe, though, that the solution to this issue lies in greater, rather than less, distribution of information; in more explanation and communication rather than selective release of details without context or background. Finally, it is a matter of trust, openness and honesty. All employees must understand that information belongs to the company, not to individuals or departments. |
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